Ojców is a small tourist village located in the Prądnik Valley in the Ojców National Park. It is the starting point for hiking trails within the park, including the most famous ones, leading to the Krakowska Gate, the Łokietka Grotto or the Dark Cave.
Due to its location within the Ojców National Park, there are almost no modern buildings. Wooden Swiss-style villas from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries dominate here, and an interesting monument is the Chapel on the Water of St. Józef Robotnik. One of the old villas houses the Regional Museum of PTTK, and the historic hotels Pod Łokietkiem and Pod Kazimierzem hosted the Nature Exposition of the Ojców National Park.
The village of Ojców has existed since the Middle Ages as a base for the Castle in Ojców belonging to the Trail of the Eagles' Nests. It was one of several dozen border strongholds built during the times of Casimir the Great. From the nineteenth century, Ojców developed as a holiday resort, and until World War II, also a health resort. It was a popular place of rest among Krakow artists and writers.
For most tourists, the most important attraction of Ojców are the local landscapes with numerous limestone outliers and the local hiking trails. The easiest and at the same time very scenic route runs along the Prądnik Stream Valley, at the foot of the Crown Rocks and around the Krakowska Gate. Above, there are two caves open to tourists, the Łokietek Grotto and the Ciemna Cave. The latter is explored with the use of flashlights as the interior is not illuminated. The routes from the vicinity of Ojców also lead further into the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, and in the area there is also the famous Maczuga Herkulesa and the Castle in Pieskowa Skala.
